The boxy white building next to Sam's Club on Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard in Clearwater is not the spare warehouse it appears. And though upon initial inspection, the casual bystander may well conclude that the restaurant inside is little more than an average bar, this is also a mistake. Beyond the beer taps and the pierced (but very talented) musician crooning away onstage stand rows upon rows of awards honoring Chef James Graham's skill with Cajun cookery.The old Clancy's was a workaday Irish pub (as its popular sister restaurant in Bradenton continues to be), but thanks to Graham's input, the newly revised Clancy's of New Orleans has become a horse of a different color. Exquisite Creole cuisine in a classy dining establishment exists peacefully alongside a bar replete with neon lights, pinball games and a softball appreciation night. Clancy's of New Orleans has the best of both worlds — but it's the restaurant that deserves the upper hand.
The bar, in a separate room from the main dining area, is bright, casual and raucous, with games, music and a lighting scheme that bathes the space in a carnival of color. Only a scattering of sparkly Mardi Gras masks and beads hint outright at a New Orleans theme. The rest of the restaurant features muted lighting and a cream and wood-paneling interior decorated simply with culinary medals and the occasional stuffed alligator head (it's a bayou thing). I was seated with my back to the reptilian relic, but my dining companion admitted to a bit of unease as we dug into a plate of alligator meat beneath the baleful glare of the creature's beady black eyes.
The alligator meat was part of an appetizer named (for reasons I don't fully understand) croc de Jacque ($7.95). Though the dish was definitely lacking in crocodile, the pieces of farm-raised baby alligator succeeded in being everything a connoisseur of the species mississipiensis might desire in a snack — tender and fresh, the meat had a consistency somewhere between chicken and shrimp, and though it did not taste like chicken, it went very well with a side dish of Creole dipping sauce.
Another delicious choice in starters was a plate of firecracker steak bites ($6.95), which were marinated in a tangy hot pepper and Worcestershire and served with a fiery (though slightly sweet) red chili sauce. The heat in this appetizer set the stage for the Cajun sensibility evident in the rest of the menu. Spicy was the watchword of the day at Clancy's of New Orleans. A cup of outstanding chicken and smoked sausage gumbo ($4.95) reminded us that our sinuses were delicate objects, but still conveyed the dark, smoky flavor so reminiscent of the French Quarter. The recipe served at Clancy's is a nine-time "World Champion" in Louisiana Gumbo competitions, and, with tongues singed by the spicy soup, we added our praises to the mix.
Slightly more disappointing was an Asian-inspired salad with a sweet ginger dressing and chunks of pineapple on a bed of field greens. Though the menu described snow peas, sesame seeds and a hint of wasabi, there was no evidence of those ingredients in the dish we were served. In the face of such triumphs as the gumbo, a lowly salad could hardly hope to compete.
For the most part, the entrées upheld the example set by the best appetizers. The extraordinary crab cake Creole ($16.95) possessed no breading. The lumps of crabmeat were pan sautéed with a lobster sauce and a side of three fried shrimp. My dining companion declared it the best crab cake he has ever had, and I agreed that it ranked right up there.
All entrees were served with a side of either seafood jambalaya or dirty rice (which my dining companion adored until told that it contained liver). In addition, a tiny, impossibly light and buttery pastry shell was served filled with stewed sweet corn. This seemingly unassuming side dish was so spectacular that it threatened to outshine even the crab cake. Though Graham is a Cajun/Creole chef, his training in French pastry is up to par.
The pattern of perfection was unfortunately marred with a dish of crawfish "1/2 & 1/2" ($12.95), which featured both the classic stew etouffee and a jumble of fried crawfish. Though the crawfish etouffee was also touted as a "world champion," my dining companion and I found it both bland and excessively fishy. We went as far as questioning its quality to our server, who reported back from the kitchen that the dish was indeed prepared correctly. However, though our table had experience in the world of N'awlins etouffee, we'd never been subjected to one that tasted quite like that, and concluded that, despite the server's reassurance, we'd been given a bad batch.
The other half of the dish, the fried crawfish, were light and delicious, with a fluffy batter in keeping with the quality of the other bread and pastry elements of our meal. The only drawback to this half was that it included no dipping sauce, which might have spiced up the crawfish considerably. We asked for more of the firecracker sauce we'd tasted in the appetizers.
Chef Graham hails from Montana, but the bulk of his experience and accolades derive from his expertise in Cajun and Creole cuisine. He's traveled extensively throughout the bayou country, honing his craft and winning enough medals in professional competitions to line every wall of Clancy's. At one point, he was named the Chef de Cocodrie, or Chef of the Alligator, by the Agricultural Center of the Louisiana State University, and was also the first American Chef to receive the Medallion de Merit by the Chaine de Rotisseurs.
However, Graham has not forgotten his Montana roots, and he integrates into his food such Midwestern touches as huckleberry sauce and wild game. Indeed, it is a rare night at Clancy's of New Orleans that there is not one dish of wild game on the menu, from quail to rabbit to the occasional boar. During my visit, I sampled delicate roasted quail in an excellent cabernet sauce, and though markedly different from most of the other dishes on the menu, the wild game offerings are an inspired addition to the repast.
Marred by only one (rather glaring) misstep, Clancy's of New Orleans was otherwise a total treat. Most of our dishes were of the absolute highest quality, betraying a passion for complex flavors, textures and innovative details that mark Graham's obvious talent and informed skills. This former Irish pub isn't missing a thing by taking a dip in the bayou.
Freelance writer Diana Peterfreund dines anonymously and the Planet pays for her meals. She may be contacted at diana.peterfreund@weeklyplanet.com. Restaurants are chosen for review at the discretion of the writer, and are not related to advertising.
This article appears in Aug 5-11, 2004.